Hana
by Elementress
Summary: That's why he admired Yuri. When she told him... he saw himself.


**A/N: **I've been wanting to expand on things such as this for a while now... Guess I finally got the chance, or the idea, rather! Please feel free to drop a review down below to let me know how it is :]

**Disclaimer:** I honestly feel as though if I had owned this series, I would not have nearly done a good enough job with it.

Hana

Here he was again, stuck watching his little sister. Noda let out a long, loud sigh just to make sure she knew how irritated he was as he plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Hana was probably off playing somewhere and didn't hear him, but whatever.

Hana was a cheerful girl. She was only eleven, making her about five years younger than Noda. They couldn't really relate, but she was so kindhearted that it was hard not to want to be nice to her. Well, for anyone but Noda. She annoyed him most of the time- how could anyone be that nice all the time? But of course, he was her big brother, and he cared for her deep down. He didn't like to show it, but it was true all the same.

Noda flicked through the channels absentmindedly, finding nothing good on but still choosing the television over his sister. She'd walk through the room every once in a while, smiling and minding her own business, knowing not to interrupt her brother, but being cheerful all the same. Honestly, what was wrong with her? She was always so happy. It just wasn't normal!

Suddenly there came a loud knock at the door. Not wanting to get up, Noda merely did what any big brother would do- he yelled for his sister to get it.

"Hana! Door!"

"Coming!"

The cheerful girl skipped through the room again, happy to do her brother's bidding. She was so sweet... Noda sometimes wondered why he wasn't nicer to her. But she didn't seem to mind, right? She was always so happy, so what did it matter?

All of a sudden an ear-splitting shriek erupted that could have only belonged to Hana. Noda jumped from the couch and ran to the front door, panic on his face. Why had she screamed? She never did that. Not unless... no, there was no reason why she'd ever screamed. He couldn't remember her ever screaming, so there must have been something wro-

_Bang._

He watched as the man pulled the trigger. He watched his sister's body fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. He watched, horrified, as the man got his gun ready for the next fire, pointing it at Noda. The man's eyes were wide, but not in fear. Noda's were, though.

He couldn't speak. His mouth moved, opened, but no sound came out. Why? That's all he could think. Why did this happen? Was it a robber? Why would they... why would he kill Hana of all people? Such a cheerful girl, she never did harm to anyone. It was Noda that should have been killed, not Hana. Noda deserved it. He was a delinquent, a rude good for nothing with a sweet little sister. A sweet, innocent, cheerful little girl. He was filled with anguish, but also with rage. It boiled up inside him, and his hands curled into tight fists. _Why?_

"She wouldn't tell me where the money was. She said she didn't know. It's a shame- such a cheerful-looking little girl." the man said, relishing in Noda's facial expressions, looking down and nudging the cold body out of his way with his foot. Noda's fists were still clenched, his jaw set. He wanted to attack this man, he wanted him to pay for what he'd done- but he couldn't move.

"So what about you?" the man continued, mockingly. "You gonna tell me where it is, kid?"

Noda said nothing. He wouldn't- he couldn't. Hana... he couldn't bear to look at her.

_Bang._

Another gunshot. A splitting pain in his head. He fell to the ground and he could vaguely feel the warm blood trickling down his face. He could feel himself being roughly kicked out of the way, and laughter rang in his ears along with the sounds of breaking glass and other objects smashing and being thrown around. Eventually the noise faded. Using all his strength, Noda reached out his hand and took Hana's cold one in his own. He forced himself to look into her dead, grey eyes. His mouth opened slightly- all he wanted to do was to apologize, to bring her back, but now they were both going to be gone- but again, sound failed him. Everything was silent.

Everything was dark.

(epilogue)

People always thought he admired Yurippe because she was pretty, or a good leader. But it was more than that. When he saw Yurippe, when she had sat down with him that one day and told him, he saw himself. He knew he wasn't alone; she too had the most important person – people, she had it even worse – stolen from her. She was unable to save them because she wasn't fast enough, wasn't good enough. He was unable to save Hana because he had been lazy, stupid.

That's why he admired Yuri. She understood him. No one else did. Maybe he had never given them the chance. He hadn't wanted to give Yuri the chance before she opened up to him like that, and had told him everything. Then he knew. He wasn't alone. Maybe they'd find peace together someday. That's what he thought, but she wanted to fight. And so he would fight, because he couldn't fight that day. He couldn't save Hana, so he would fight now to avenge her.

Hana. Such a cheerful girl.

_Why?_


End file.
